She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Chapter 341 Freshmen

Shen Qingtan saw the little girl's eyes widen and she asked in a childish voice, "Brother, how did you know?"

Gu Changsheng lowered his voice: "Brother guessed."

"Wow, brother, you're so amazing!" The little girl's eyes sparkled as she held up one finger. "Can I have a piece of candy?"

Gu Changsheng fell silent.

Shen Qingtan touched her purse, which contained two lactoses. She untied the purse, intending to take out one lactose to give to the little girl.

The next moment, her movements stopped.

Gu Changsheng took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and poured out a round lactose into the little girl's palm.

The little girl took a big bite of the lactose and gave Gu Changsheng a sweet smile.

Looking at the little girl's bright smile, Gu Changsheng couldn't help but smile as well, and reached out to pat her head.

The little girl was overjoyed and clung to Gu Changsheng, unwilling to leave his side.

Gu Changsheng felt somewhat helpless and tacitly accepted the little girl's existence.

He slowly stood up, picked up the medicine box beside him, and prepared to treat the patient. In a flash, he saw a bright figure, looked closer, and recognized Shen Qingtan from the blurry outline.

Almost every time they met, she deliberately chose brightly colored clothes so that he could spot her at a glance.

"Manman".

Gu Changsheng put down his medicine box and walked towards Shen Qingtan.

Shen Qingtan stared at the porcelain bottle in Gu Changsheng's hand, her fingers unconsciously tightening around her purse.

Gu Changsheng cares deeply for his younger sister, so much so that even after all these years, he still carries her favorite lactose with him.

He gave the candy to the little girl, perhaps because her words reminded him of her when he was a child?

Gu Changsheng noticed Shen Qingtan's gaze, tightened his fingers, and said casually, "She's just like you when you were little, with bad teeth and still longing for candy."

Shen Qingtan keenly sensed the change in Gu Changsheng's state of mind. Since the siblings reunited, they had tacitly avoided discussing the past.

Now that he's bringing up the past, does it mean he's let go of his past, opened his closed heart, and is slowly moving on?

"Mom said that eating candy will turn me into a sweet little girl, so I've been thinking about eating candy." Shen Qingtan said with a smile, "With my brother spoiling me, I don't want to wrong myself."

Gu Changsheng remembered her toothache when she was little. With teary eyes, she snuggled into his arms and acted coquettishly. Under his gentle coaxing, she obediently and softly said that she wouldn't eat candy next time.

Once her toothache subsided, she started asking for candy in all sorts of ways, completely forgetting how pitiful she looked with a toothache.

Thinking of this, Gu Changsheng smiled slightly.

Looking at his gentle smile, Shen Qingtan realized that he had truly broken free from the shackles he carried and was trying to reconcile with himself.

She felt relieved and held out her hand to him: "Brother, you said my toothache is gone, so you'll buy me candy again."

Gu Changsheng lowered his raven-feather-like eyelashes and stared blankly at her palm.

These were the words he used to comfort her fourteen years ago, on the eve of their separation.

Gu Changsheng poured a piece of lactose into her palm, fulfilling his promise from years ago. All the past events seemed to have been completely over the moment he placed the candy in her hand.

Shen Qingtan put the lactose in her mouth. It tasted no different from what she usually ate, but she tasted a little bitterness and astringency. After licking away the bitterness, only a lingering sweetness remained, slowly seeping into her heart.

She looked up at Gu Changsheng's brown eyes, "Brother, how is your eye recovery?"

Gu Changsheng replied truthfully, "I'm recovering slowly."

Shen Qingtan continued, "Does your head hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt," Gu Changsheng said. "I've come to understand the responsibility and significance that medicine has given me."

From Yingcheng to Yuncheng, the shed was packed with patients. The passing of life gradually eroded the desire to live in their eyes, leaving only despair.

He has witnessed patients die in despair.

He has also witnessed the joy of patients regaining their lives.

He has also witnessed the birth of new life.

Every moment was deeply moving; he wanted to save those struggling to survive and extend their lives in his hands.

"Doctor Gu, come quickly! A newly arrived patient is in critical condition."

Someone shouted Gu Changsheng at the top of their lungs.

Gu Changsheng said to Shen Qingtan, "Manman, you should go back first. There are patients everywhere here, don't stay here too long."

Shen Qingtan nodded.

Gu Changsheng instructed Zhao Yi: "Take good care of Manman."

Zhao Yi said gently, "Okay."

Gu Changsheng turned around and took a few steps, then turned back to Shen Qingtan and placed the porcelain bottle in her hand.

Shen Qingtan looked at the still-warm white porcelain bottle in her hand. Its lustrous whiteness seemed to blend seamlessly with the vast expanse of white snow.

Following the footprints in the snow, she gazed ahead and saw the pale warm sunlight spreading across his slender back, dispelling the chill of winter.

The gloom that had been weighing on his heart seemed to be dispelled along with the chill that enveloped him.

-

Gu Changsheng carried his medicine box into a small bamboo shed, shook off the fine white snowflakes from his body, and saw a patient lying on the kang (a heated brick bed).

When the yamen runner saw Gu Changsheng arrive, he quickly said, "Doctor Gu, we found her in the snow. Can you take a look and see if you can cure her?"

Gu Changsheng walked to the bedside and saw the patient convulsing, mouth wide open, struggling to exhale.

He reached out and placed his hand on the patient's wrist, feeling the patient's muscles trembling. He leaned closer to the patient's face; the patient's eyes were fixed, lips were cyanotic, and the patient looked to be in pain.

Gu Changsheng withdrew his hand and asserted, "She has an epidemic disease. If it had been discovered earlier and brought here, it could have been cured. But now, with the lung failure and wheezing that have developed, judging from her symptoms and pulse, she only has ten days to half a month to live and cannot be cured."

The patient experienced chest tightness, shortness of breath, and was unable to lie down and sleep, causing him great distress.

Her family had no money to treat her illness, so her husband carried her on his back and placed her at the entrance of a shack, hoping that the local doctor would find her and treat her.

The constables took her in, and she felt as if she had seen a glimmer of hope.

But when he heard Gu Changsheng's words, it was like a blow to the head.

"Help...help me..." The patient managed to utter a few words before becoming breathless, gasping for air. "Please...please..."

Her eyelids drooped weakly, and she pressed her hand to her chest, trying to make it easier for her to breathe.

Looking at the longing in her eyes, Gu Changsheng suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness.

If it were a common illness, he wouldn't be at a loss.

But her organs were failing, and there was no cure.